1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk loading device for loading/unloading an optical disk for a recording/reproduction device which records/reproduces information on/from the optical disk.
2. Description of the Related Art
Optical disks have been widely used as audio disks, video disks, and data memory devices for computers.
Optical disks include rewritable disks cased in cartridges mainly used for data storage and reproduction-only naked disks such as music CDs and CD-ROMs. With the advance of multimedia technology, both the digitization of AV apparatuses and the enhancement of the AV functions of computers are in progress simultaneously. To meet this progress, optical disks which are widely applicable to recording/reproduction of a variety of information regardless whether they are for AV apparatuses or for computers have been requested.
Also, with the increasing request for size reduction of personal computers as well as AV apparatuses, the recording/reproduction devices for optical disks are desired to be made thinner.
In short, a recording/reproduction device for an optical disk, which is thin and applicable to various forms of media has been strongly requested.
Conventionally, however, since the loading method is different between disks incorporated in cartridges and naked disks, individual, exclusive disk loading devices for the cartridges and the naked disks are required.
A conventional mechanism for loading an optical disk-incorporated cartridge which is mainly used as a data memory device will be described with reference to FIGS. 41 to 43.
In an optical disk device including the cartridge loading mechanism, in general, after a cartridge is inserted into the device, the cartridge needs to be moved toward a spindle motor and an optical pickup so that a disk incorporated in the cartridge can be placed on a turntable to be ready for recording or reproduction.
FIG. 41 is a perspective view illustrating the disk loading mechanism of Conventional Example 1. FIGS. 42A and 42B are side views illustrating the operation of the disk loading mechanism. FIG. 43 is a schematic view illustrating the dimensional relationship between the components of the device in the thickness direction.
Referring to FIGS. 41, 42A, and 42B, a cartridge 201 is inserted into a cartridge holder 202 at the front of the device. At the insertion, a shutter 201a of the cartridge 201 engages with a shutter opener 210 incorporated in the cartridge holder 202 and slides to allow a portion of a disk in the cartridge 201 to be exposed. The cartridge holder 202 is provided with four guide rollers 203 on both sides thereof, which engage with respective guide grooves 205 formed on both sides of a slider 204. Each guide roller 203 is movable only vertically by a distance d along a guide pole 207 mounted on a chassis 206.
The slider 204 is shaped to sandwich the cartridge holder 202 from the bottom, and slidable in direction A by a distance s along a guide pin 208 mounted on the chassis 206. The slider 204 is always urged in direction A by a slider spring 209, and initially stopped by a lock arm (not shown) in the state where the slider spring 209 has expanded at maximum (see FIG. 42A).
A damper 214 is rotatably held by a support arm 215, and located above an opening 202a of the cartridge holder 202 at the center of the upper surface thereof, facing a turntable 212 attached to the axis of a disk motor 211. The damper 214 and the turntable 212 are attracted to each other by an attractive force between a magnet and a magnetic piece incorporated therein.
The support arm 215 rotates by an action of a cam (not shown) disposed on the slider 204 depending on the position of the cam, so as to move the damper 214 upward/downward. In the initial state, the damper 214 has been lifted to a position where the damper 214 does not interfere with the cartridge 201 which is inserted into the cartridge holder 202 (see FIG. 42A).
As the cartridge 201 is inserted into the cartridge holder 202, one corner of the cartridge 201 pushes the lock arm, releasing the lock arm from the engagement with the slider 204. When released, the slider 204 slides in direction A by the force of the slider spring 209, allowing the guide rollers 203 to move along the respective guide grooves 205 and thus the cartridge holder 202 to move toward the chassis 206 (direction B) by a distance d. Simultaneously, the support arm 215 rotates as the slider 204 moves, allowing the clamper 214 to move toward the turntable 212. As the cartridge 201 in the cartridge holder 202 falls, the disk in the cartridge 201 is seated on the turntable 212. The clamper 214 attaches to the disk from above so that the disk is set to be rotatable on the turntable 212 and sufficiently close to an optical pickup 213 for recording/reproduction (see FIG. 42B).
When the cartridge 201 is to be removed from the device, the slider 204 is pulled back against the urging force of the slider spring 209 by a loading motor 216, to allow both the clamper 214 and the cartridge holder 202 to be lifted to the respective initial states. This separates the disk from the turntable 212, and thus the cartridge 201 is ready for unloading.
As shown in FIG. 43, at the insertion of the cartridge 201, a distance D which exceeds the thickness of the cartridge 201 is necessary between the turntable 212 and the clamper 214.
A conventional loading mechanism of an optical disk device for a naked disk such as a music CD and a CD-ROM will be described with reference to FIGS. 44 and 45A to 45C.
On a main chassis 53 are mounted a disk motor 56, a turntable 58 attached to the axis of the disk motor 56, a center cone 58a on the turntable 58 which is to engage with a center hole 45a of a recording disk 45, a head 43 which is slidable in directions Y1-Y2 along a guide shaft 55 and has a coil 43a for a linear motor, and a magnetic yoke 54 for the linear motor. A hole 53b as the center of rotation is provided at an end 53a of the main chassis 53, and a rotation spindle 51 extends through the hole 53b. 
Likewise, a hole 47b as the center of rotation is provided at an end 47a of a clamp lever 47, and the rotation spindle 51 extends through the hole 47b. The rotation spindle 51 is fixed to projections 52 of the bottom surface of a box 42.
A tray 41 is attached to the box 42 so as to move horizontally in directions Y1-Y2 by the engagement between a rack 41a formed on the back surface of the tray 41 and an output gear wheel of a loading motor 57 provided with a gear unit for deceleration. The tray has a dish-shaped depression 46 for receiving and holding the disk 45. A smaller-diameter depression is formed inside the depression 46 to receive a small-diameter disk 60 thereon.
A cam 50 engages with the main chassis 53 and the clamp lever 47 at the rear sides thereof. The cam 50 is driven by a geared motor 49. The main chassis 53 and the clamp lever 47 rotate around the rotation spindle 51 depending on the rotational position of the cam 50 so that the main chassis 53 and the clamp lever 47 are closer to or farther from each other. The box has an opening 44 for insertion of the tray 41. The tray 41 has an opening 41b. A damper 48 is attached to the clamp lever 47. The loading motor 57 and the geared motor 49 are operated under control of a microcomputer in a normal manner, for example. The positions of the tray 41 and the cam 50 driven by the respective motors are detected using normal microswitches or the like. These operations are not specifically shown in these figures, and the description thereof is omitted here.
FIGS. 45A, 45B, and 45C show the operation of the disk loading device of this conventional example.
The case where the disk 45 is used for a disk recording/reproduction device will be described. When an eject/load switch (not sown) is pressed, the tray 41 moves in direction Y2 by the driving force of the loading motor 57 under the control of the microcomputer, to be ejected from the box 42 as shown in FIG. 45A. At this time, the clamp lever 47 and the main chassis 53 are at positions apart from each other with respect to the rotation spindle 51.
Under this state, the disk 45 is placed on the depression 46 of the tray 41 and the eject/load switch is pressed. The tray 41 is then moved horizontally toward the inside of the box 42 through the opening 44 by the driving force of the loading motor 57 as shown in FIG. 45B.
The cam 50 then rotates to allow the clamp lever 47 and the main chassis 53 to come closer to each other with respect to the rotation spindle 51 as shown in FIG. 45C. The disk 45 is sandwiched by the clamper 48 and the turntable 58 on the disk motor 56, engaging with the center cone 58a of the turntable 58, thereby to be ready for rotation. Under this state, information is reproduced from or recorded on the disk 45 by a head 13.
An operation reverse to the above operation is performed to unload the disk 45 from the device.
The conventional disk loading devices described above have the following problems.
In Conventional Example 1, the cartridge 201 is first inserted into the cartridge holder 202 horizontally and then moved downward toward the spindle motor, so as to place the disk on the turntable 212 to be ready for recording/reproduction by the optical pickup 213. Thus, as shown in FIG. 43, the space with a thickness corresponding to the distance D is excessively left after the fall of the cartridge 201 over the entire area of the cartridge 201. Moreover, a space for the retraction of the clamper 214 is required above the cartridge 201. These prevent the device from being made thin.
A naked disk such as a music CD and a CD-ROM cannot be directly inserted to this conventional loading device. Such a naked disk must be first put in a cartridge called a caddy, which is then loaded into the device. In this case, the caddy needs to be taken out from the disk loading device whenever the disk is exchanged, which makes the operation complicated.
Moreover, due to the standards for cartridges, some cartridges may be different in the size of a shutter end from others due to a difference in the shutter structure, although the positions and sizes of holes for positioning the cartridges in the disk loading device are common. If such a cartridge with a different size is inserted in the cartridge holder 202, the shutter opener 210 does not rotate to the terminal of the rotation route. This is likely to cause the shutter opener 210 to vibrate and, if receiving a shock, the shutter opener 210 may disengage from the shutter, closing the shutter in the device.
In Conventional Example 2, a disk incorporated in a cartridge is not usable. Since the loading motor 57 is located below the tray 41, the entire device cannot be made thin even if the optical head and the disk motor are made thin. Moreover, since a naked disk is just placed on the tray, the device cannot be installed vertically.
The tray becomes thick since it has two-stage depressions to receive a small-diameter disk in addition to the large-diameter disk. This increases the distance by which the turntable 58 must retract when the tray 41 is conveyed inside the device. This prevents the device from being made thin.
When used for a notebook-size personal computer, in particular, the disk loading device is required to be as thin as 20 mm or less. It is impossible for the trays in both Conventional Examples 1 and 2 to satisfy this requirement.
An object of the present invention is to provide a disk loading device which is applicable both to a disk incorporated in a cartridge and a naked disk and can be made thin having no large excessive space in the device.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a disk loading device which keeps a shutter of a cartridge open without fail even if a cartridge having a shutter end which is different in size is inserted, to ensure that the shutter will not close even when the device receives a shock.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a disk loading device where not only a disk incorporated in a cartridge but also a naked disk can be easily exchanged with another one.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a disk adaptor loaded in a disk loading device, which allows a small-diameter disk to be directly inserted or removed with an operability similar to that experienced in the case of a cartridge, and which is not required to be removed whenever the small-diameter disk is exchanged with another one.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a disk loading device where a disk incorporated in a cartridge or a naked disk can be easily retrieved even when no power is supplied to the device.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a disk loading device which can be made thin having no large excessive space in the device while being provided with a clamper.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a disk loading device which can be made thin having no large excessive space in the device while a variation in the thickness of a cartridge is cancelled to allow the cartridge to be accurately positioned with respect to a head unit.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a disk loading device which can be installed horizontally or vertically.
The disk loading device of this example includes: a holder for removably holding a cartridge; a conveying member for conveying the holder; a shutter opening/closing member for opening a shutter of the cartridge when the cartridge is inserted into the holder; and a rotational driving member having a holding portion for holding a center portion of a disk in the cartridge which has been conveyed to a predetermined position by the conveying member, the rotational driving member rotating the disk held by the holding portion, wherein, when the holder is conveyed by the conveying member, the shutter of the cartridge has been opened by the shutter opening/closing member and an opening of the cartridge which has been exposed by the opening of the shutter passes a position where the holding portion of the rotational driving member is located.
According to the present invention, the shutter has been opened by the shutter opening/closing member disposed in the rear portion of the holder before the top end of the cartridge passes through the clamp portion. Accordingly, the shutter is open when the cartridge passes through the clamp portion. This makes it possible to reduce the distance between the disk motor and the retract position for the clamper. Thus, at the clamping operation, the amount of relative movement among the disk motor, the clamper, and the cartridge are small. Since the clamp portion is not required to retract over the entire thickness of the cartridge, the disk loading device can be made thin.
In one embodiment of the invention, the shutter opening/closing member is an arm rotatably supported by the holder, and a top portion of the arm engages with the shutter of the cartridge when the cartridge is inserted into the holder, to open the shutter, and when the holder is conveyed by the conveying member, the arm is rotated to move so that the top portion of the arm will not interfere with the holding portion of the rotational driving member.
In the above case, the top portion of the arm will not interfere with the holding portion of the rotational driving member. Accordingly, the distance between the holding portion of the rotational driving member, i.e., the turntable and the damper can be reduced.
In another embodiment of the invention, when the holder is conveyed by the conveying member, a portion of the arm engages with a guide of the holder and moves to rotate the arm.
In still another embodiment of the invention, the disk loading device further includes an urging member for urging the top portion of the arm toward the shutter of the cartridge in the state where the cartridge is held by the holder and the top portion of the arm engages with the shutter of the cartridge.
In the above case, the arm is prevented from being released from the shutter of the cartridge even if the arm does not reach the terminal of the pathway of the arm, ensuring that the shutter is kept opened.
Alternatively, the disk loading device of this invention includes a holder for holding either a cartridge incorporating a disk or a naked disk, wherein the holder has a pair of sandwiching members for sandwiching the cartridge, and the pair of sandwiching members have inlet portions which together provide a width larger than a width of the cartridge and holding portions which together sandwich the cartridge, slits being formed on at least the holding portions for receiving the periphery of the naked disk.
According to this invention, the cartridge is sandwiched by the pair of sandwiching members, while the naked disk is held by the slits formed on the holding portions of the sandwiching members.
In one embodiment of the invention, the pair of sandwiching members include a pair of inlet levers and a pair of disk holders, top ends of the pair of inlet levers are axially supported so that the top ends of the pair of inlet levers together provide a width larger than the width of the cartridge, the pair of disk holders are elastically held by mutually axially coupling rear ends of the pair of inlet levers and top ends of the pair of disk holders, and slits for receiving the periphery of the naked disk are formed on at least the pair of disk holders.
In this case, when the cartridge is inserted, the pair of inlet levers are pressed outward to provide a wide entrance. In association with this, the pair of disk holders are pressed outward at the top ends thereof to provide a space large enough for the cartridge to pass therethrough.
In one embodiment of the invention, the disk loading device further includes: a first detection member for detecting which has been inserted into the holder, the cartridge or the naked disk; and a second detection member for detecting the state of the pair of sandwiching members.
In this case, the state of the pair of sandwiching members changes when they hold the cartridge, and this change of the state is detected by the second detection member. Based on detection outputs from the first and second members, which of the cartridge or the naked disk has been inserted into the holder, can be determined.
According to another aspect of the invention, an adaptor for removably holding a naked disk is provided. The adaptor includes: a concave portion in which the disk fits; an introduction portion for introducing the disk into the concave portion; and an elastic portion disposed between the concave portion and the introduction portion, which is pressed by a periphery of the disk and moves away from the concave portion when the disk is introduced from the introduction portion to the concave portion, and returns near the periphery of the disk when the disk fits in the concave portion, wherein an opening is formed for externally holding a center portion of the disk which has fit in the concave portion, and externally performing recording or reproduction for the disk.
According to this invention, it is made possible to use a disk with a different diameter. The disk exchange can be performed with the adaptor being kept placed on the holder.
Alternatively, the disk loading device of this invention includes: a holder for removably holding a cartridge; and a guide for movably supporting the holder, wherein the holder has a lock member, and the lock member projects from the holder and engages with the guide in association with the cartridge inserted into the holder.
According to this invention, a mechanism for locking the holder to the guide in association with the insertion of the cartridge is established. With this mechanism, the holder can be fixed since it is prevented from being pressed into the guide due to a load generated by the operation of opening the shutter of the cartridge, for example. This ensures the insertion of the cartridge in the holder.
In one embodiment of the invention, the holder has a pair of sandwiching members for sandwiching the cartridge, and the lock member is attached to the pair of sandwiching members.
Alternatively, the disk loading device of this invention includes: a holder for removably holding a cartridge; and a guide for movably supporting the holder, wherein the holder has a lock member, and the lock member projects from the holder and engages with the guide in association with the cartridge inserted into the holder, and, when the cartridge has been inserted in the holder, engages with a concave portion of the cartridge to retract in the holder and thus be released from the guide.
According to this invention, a mechanism for locking the holder to the guide in association with the insertion of the cartridge is established. With this mechanism, the holder can be fixed since it is prevented from being pressed into the guide due to a load generated by the operation of opening the shutter of the cartridge, for example. This ensures the insertion of the cartridge in the holder. Moreover, since the lock member fits in the concave portion of the cartridge when the cartridge has been inserted in the holder, the cartridge can be accurately positioned in the holder. At the same time, since the lock member is disengaged from the guide, it is ensured that the cartridge in the holder is loaded in the device after the accurate positioning of the cartridge in the holder.
In one embodiment of the invention, the holder has a pair of sandwiching members for sandwiching the cartridge, and a lock member is attached to the pair of sandwiching members.
Alternatively, the disk loading device of this invention includes: a holder removably holding a cartridge; an elastic member disposed on the holder near the cartridge held by the holder; and a manipulation portion for deforming the elastic member and allowing the deformed elastic member to engage with the cartridge, wherein the cartridge engaging with the elastic member is ejected from the holder by an elastic force generated when the elastic member resumes its original shape.
According to this invention, a forced ejection function for forcibly ejecting the cartridge is realized. In a normal operation where this forced ejection function is not used, the elastic member does not engage with the cartridge. When the forced ejection function is used, the elastic member is deformed by the action of the manipulation portion so that the deformed elastic member engages with the cartridge. The cartridge engaging with the elastic member is ejected from the holder by the elastic force of the elastic member when the elastic member resumes its original shape.
With this arrangement, the disk loading device can be made thin.
Alternatively, the disk loading device comprising: a holder for removably holding a cartridge; a shutter opening/closing member for opening a shutter of the cartridge held by the holder; and a rotational driving member having a holding portion for holding a center portion of a disk in the cartridge with the shutter opened, the rotational driving member rotating the disk held by the holding portion, wherein at least a portion of a mechanism for operating the holding portion of the rotational driving member is located in a range corresponding to an opening of the cartridge exposed by the opening of the shutter.
According to this invention, at least a portion of a mechanism for actuating the holding portion of the rotational driving member is placed in a range corresponding to the opening of the cartridge. The thickness of the opening of the cartridge is smaller than the thickness of the entire cartridge. Accordingly, by placing at least a portion of the holding portion of the rotational driving member at a position corresponding to the opening of the cartridge, the holding portion can be closer to the disk. With this arrangement, the disk loading device can be made thin.
Thus, the invention described herein makes possible the advantages of (1) providing a disk loading device which is applicable both to a disk incorporated in a cartridge and a naked disk and can be made thin having no large excessive space in the device, (2) providing a disk loading device which keeps a shutter of a cartridge open without fail even if a cartridge having a shutter end which is different in size is inserted, to ensure that the shutter will not close even when the device receives a shock, (3) providing a disk loading device where not only a disk incorporated in a cartridge but also a naked disk can be easily exchanged with another one, (4) providing a disk adaptor loaded in a disk loading device, which allows a small-diameter disk to be directly inserted or removed with an operability similar to that experienced in the case of a cartridge. and which is not required to be removed whenever the small-diameter disk is exchanged with another one, (5) providing a disk loading device where a disk incorporated in a cartridge or a naked disk can be easily retrieved even when no power is supplied to the device, (6) providing a disk loading device which can be made thin having no large excessive space in the device while being provided with a clamper, (7) providing a disk loading device which can be made thin having no large excessive space in the device while a variation in the thickness of a cartridge is cancelled to allow the cartridge to be accurately positioned with respect to a head unit, and (8) providing a disk loading device which can be installed horizontally or vertically.
These and other advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying figures.